The majority of Americans say that they want to live in a home where all or most appliances are electric. This recent polling, conducted by Yale and GMU in collaboration with UC-Santa Barbara and Rewiring America, affirms that the majority of Americans want to live in homes with all or mostly electric appliances. When given the choice (and asked to assume that costs and features are the same), three in five (60%) say that they want to live in a home where all major appliances or most electric appliances are powered by electricity. A more detailed breakdown shows that: 31% prefer a home in which all major appliances (stove, heating system, water heater, etc.) are powered by electricity; 29% prefer a home in which most major appliances (heating system, water heater, etc.) are powered by electricity, but which has a gas stove for cooking; 21% prefer a home in which most or all major appliances (stove, heating system, water heater, etc.) are powered by natural gas, propane, or oil; 18% don’t know or have no preference.

Voters continue to widely support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law two years after it was signed into law. Replacing lead-contaminated pipes is the single most popular part of the legislation. Navigator finds that voters support President Biden’s signature infrastructure legislation by an overwhelming margin (65% support / 22% oppose) when it’s described as “an infrastructure plan to improve roads and bridges, expand power infrastructure, increase passenger and rail access, and improve water infrastructure” that was passed by “President Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.” The infrastructure law enjoys the support of nearly nine in ten Democrats (89%), while independent voters support it by a two-to-one margin (52% support / 25% oppose) and Republican voters are split about evenly (43% support / 41% oppose). And in terms of specific policies, Navigator finds that replacing lead-contaminated pipes is the single most popular aspect of the infrastructure law. Nearly nine in ten voters (87%) support the infrastructure law’s provision to replace and upgrade water pipes that are contaminated with lead, including three in five (62%) who “strongly” support this provision.

Voters want to limit gas exports and are amenable to several arguments against new exports, including arguments about costs, climate damage, pollution, and fossil fuel dependence. By a two-to-one margin (60% support / 30% oppose), voters support the Biden administration “taking measures to limit the amount of natural gas America exports to other countries.” Young voters, who vocally opposed the Biden administration’s actions in allowing the Willow project to move forward, support the Biden administration taking measures to limit gas exports by a greater than three-to-one margin (62% support / 19% oppose among young voters aged 18-29). By a greater than two-to-one margin (62% support / 28% oppose), voters support “pausing all natural gas export projects until the proper reviews are completed.” Roughly three-quarters of Democratic voters (76% support / 16% oppose) and just over half of Republican voters (52% support / 37% oppose) support a pause on new gas export projects, as do more than three in five young voters aged 18-29 (64% support / 21% oppose).

Indigenous self-determination is a key climate solution — if the federal government can get behind it. The latest National Climate Assessment cites a 2021 study that concluded that Indigenous peoples in the United States lost 99 percent of their territories through colonization, and that the lands that they were forced to move to face higher wildfire risk and worse drought than their traditional homelands. According to the authors, Indigenous peoples across the continental U.S. and its island holdings hail from more than 700 tribes and communities, and while each community has a different relationship with the federal government, all share similar experiences of colonization through stolen land, cultural assimilation, and persistent marginalization. The report also detailed problems with the National Flood Insurance Program, a federal insurance program managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that helps homeowners insure against the risk of flooding, something that many insurance companies won’t cover. The program is supposed to help communities mitigate flood risk, but the report found that its implementation in Native communities has been flawed and ineffective.

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including new polling about fossil fuel accountability, publicly owned utilities, and frontline communities’ vulnerability to extreme weather.

Support for fossil fuel accountability spans the political spectrum, as voters widely agree that polluters should pay for their climate damage and pay a tax on their excess profits. More than two-thirds say that expanding clean energy will positively impact the economy. 75% of voters support a tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies. 70% of voters support making polluters pay for climate damages after learning that some cities and states are suing fossil fuel companies for damage from climate disasters. 63% of voters say that CEOs of oil and gas companies have too much power in America’s political system. By a 71%-20% margin, voters say that they are more likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who will stand up to oil and gas company CEOs (71%) over a candidate who supports oil and gas company CEOs (20%). 68% of voters say that expanding clean energy production in America will have a positive impact on the economy. By a 58%-34% margin, voters believe that the clean energy industry (58%) is likely to create more new jobs over the next several decades than the oil and gas industry (34%).

This post includes climate and environment headlines, data points, and key takeaways from recent public polls - including a new Pew report on Americans’ climate attitudes, a new analysis of pro-climate Republicans, and new polling on President Biden’s investments in clean energy and infrastructure.

Two-thirds of voters say that they would support having a publicly owned utility as their electricity provider; having a say over electricity rates is the biggest perceived benefit. A strong majority of likely voters nationwide (68%) support having a publicly owned utility as their local utility provider. Support holds across party lines, with majority support among Democrats (71%), Independents (66%), and Republicans (67%). A majority of voters (60%) report that their utility bills increased in the last year. When asked, a plurality of voters (39%) want their utility company’s top priority to be lowering prices for consumers. Voters also want their utility to prioritize ensuring reliable service (21%), upgrading aging grid infrastructure (17%), and transitioning to renewable energy (15%).

Investments in infrastructure and clean energy rank among President Biden’s most widely recognized accomplishments, as majorities continue to support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. 58% of Americans support the IRA. This ranks lower than many other Biden-led investment bills. The lowering of prescription drug prices ranks highest, at 77% overall support.

Last month, President Joe Biden announced the launch of the American Climate Corps, or ACC — a program that will train some 20,000 young people in careers in climate and clean energy. In this resource, Sunrise Movement co-founder Evan Weber discusses the years of Green New Deal organizing that led to the landmark new jobs program to address the climate crisis. A broad paint brush of tactics contributed to the win that is the American Climate Corps. These tactics included 500 young people getting arrested for blocking the White House in the summer of 2021 while demanding a fully-funded civilian climate corps in the Build Back Better negotiations. They also included behind-the-scenes lobbying and policy negotiation, coalition building and the electoral work that delivered some of the highest youth voter turnout in modern history — with climate being the reason that happened. The latter is also the reason President Biden went more aggressive on climate and updated his climate policy.